Hives May Not Be As Hierarchical as We Thought
Summary By: karol orzechowski | Original Study By: Lauren Gravitz | Published: June 10, 2015
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute
Rather than top-down and led by a Queen, beehives appear to be decentralized, leaderless societies.
New research into the social structure of bees shows that the structure of hives may not be “quite so autocratic” as many have thought. In an article published in Nature, author Lauren Gravitz summarizes various contemporary research on bee hive sociality. The article describes how researchers are finding hives to be structured in a decentralized way, with many different parts of bee society working together without a leader to make sure the hive functions. Though the piece relies on research carried out with captive bees, the findings may be useful for advocates who wish to communicate to people about the rich lives of bees.

Meet the Author: karol orzechowski
karol orzechowski is a longtime animal advocate with a passion for advocacy, art, statistics, and tech. In addition to producing numerous short films on various animal issues, karol is the director of Maximum Tolerated Dose, a feature-length documentary about the psychological toll of vivisection on both animals and humans. He completed a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and an MA in Communications and Culture at York University, writing theses on nationalism and the Atlantic seal hunt, and Canadian rodeo culture, respectively. When he's not working for Faunalytics, karol is the Board Chair of a non-profit independent news publication in his hometown. Outside of work, karol is often reading about computer hacking and infosec, organizing and performing at events in his local arts scene, or walking with Raoul the rescue dog.
Citations:
Gravitz, L. (2015). Animal Behaviour: Nested Instincts. Nature, S60-S61, doi:10.1038/521S60a